Chronicles of Symphonia: Collection of Random
by Blaze0010
Summary: So! Here we go! Chronicles of Symphonia is a co-creation by myself and Frozen in Flight. Check out the main storyline. Not everything here is mean, not everything here is cute. This is just some random crack me and Frozen in Flight decided to add. Enjoy.
1. Flashback! Back Problems!

**DISCLAIMER**

I own nothing. Tales of Symphonia is a registered product of Bandai Namco Ltd. This is for dark entertainment reasons only.

Frozen In Flight owns the torture rights to Aurian. I own Daisuke and Daichi.

Note: I be lazy. This disclaimer will not appear again, but applies to all chapters.

* * *

The thin elf curls away from the other drab-clad captives in the cell with her. For their part, they were fine with ignoring her, eyes fixed on the grates and doors that were the way out, the way Desians came in. Two Desians stand guard outside the cell. It's obvious they chose the two most intimidating two for guards. The larger of the two yawns, glancing at his partner who is pacing, glaring into the cell. "Filthy animals..."

"Take it easy Daisuke...We still got 7 hours guardin' 'em..." the humans move back further in their cell as the pacing Desian growls, but the thin elf, Aurian seems curious. By the way the other slaves watch her; they think she's mentally damaged for scooting closer to the bars. Their cluster in the cell had started to impede on her bubble, might have been the reason for it. The one known as Daisuke glances at his comrade.

"I know...Gah...Daichi...Why is guardin' so borin'?"

Daichi shrugs. "Dunno..." His attention is caught by the elf. She looks like something's wrong in her head, a sort of vacant look that says that her surroundings don't quite register. She slumps over on one side, her matted hair kind of shiny. She watches them dully. The humans shake their heads, but don't pull her back - if someone else gets hurt, it's not them.

Daisuke glances at Daichi and smirks, approaching the bars. "What ya lookin' at?" She blinks up, not lifting her head. The humans crowd back, not going to come to her defense. She looks like she doesn't understand what he's saying, but flicker of fright does cross her face at his tone. He smirks. "Inferior creature...Can't even talk." He glances at Daichi. "How 'bout we loosen her tongue, cap'n?"

Daichi smirks. "Go for it, kid." The humans' crowd back, not looking at the thin elf as she kind of watches them with confusion, but seems to be more staring into space. Above the burlap shirt is a matte black collar. She doesn't seem to want to try moving.

Daisuke opens the door, grabbing her by the collar. "Now...What's ya number?" He growls. She blinks at him, her hands twitching up to hold the collar.

"33-724." it was sort of understandable, mumbled low and pronounced wrong.

He smirks. "Good. Now. What were ya starin' at?"

This comes out as unintelligible garble. she says some things, and then manages to say "boots."

Daisuke glances down at his feet. "Yeah? Wanna see 'em closer?" He then, abruptly, dropkicks her. this gets no noise from her other than released air as she hits the bars. The humans inside flinch, but she just crumples, eyes closed and arms curling over her chest. Pain flits across her face but doesn't stay.

Daisuke saunters over, placing a boot on her head. "Good enough to look? You ain't fit enough to lick the soles, are ya?" This gets a faint muffled noise of pain, but the thin elf doesn't try to get away.

Daichi wanders over. "Easy. Lord Forcystus'll have our heads if she dies."

Daisuke growls. "Always have to ruin my fun...5 more minutes. I wanna watch her squirm like the worm that she is beneath my boot."

"...Fine." she does seem to be moving a bit more now, trying to move her head. She doesn't seem to remember that she has arms she can grab with, just trying to move her head to the side rather than face up. One human whispers to another that the elf must be damaged in the head. Daichi bangs on the bars with the haft of his Axe. "Shaddap!"

Daisuke leans in. "Answer. This close enough?" she makes weak noises, muttering half words. it seems she doesn't know one to say, and can't shift her head to nod. He increases the pressure. "Repeat that?" she tries to repeat everything she had said previously. Now she remembers she has hands, and tries to force them under his foot to free her head a bit. Tears are starting to form in rather confused eyes. Daisuke growls, kicking at her stomach with his free foot. Aurian grunts, air leaving in a whoosh yet again. But she still attempts to make half-gasping words to continue her repeating.

Daisuke grunts, picking the woman up and slinging her in the cell. "I need somethin' to eat. Want something?"

"Nah." Daichi sits down, watching his partner leave. Aurian lays there for a moment, on her side, before slowly moving back to her previous position by the bars, against the wall. She's staring ahead again, into the hall vacantly. Daichi smirks, moving his foot into her eye line, moving it about. She doesn't do anything. It seems she had scrambled for a word the last time. After a moment, she reacts, flinching a bit.

Daichi grunts, standing. "What to do...?" the humans begin stirring a bit, their internal clocks telling them that food should be coming soon. Aurian remains still on her side. Food comes in, and Daichi passes it out, Daisuke watching. Once done, he stands over the elf. The humans fall to their food, but she doesn't take notice of hers. Daichi watches. A human comes up, eying her food rather than her, and finally she moves. She throws her arm out, snatching the bread and curling into a ball. The human goes for the bowl, as Aurian rapidly shoved the hard bread into her mouth. The human finishes her soupy gruel, and retreats, as Aurian checks her shirt for crumbs. Daichi dislikes this, and gets Daisuke to snag that human. The thin elf looks worried, startled, and she tries to crawl for the bars.

"Protecting this scum, eh?" Daisuke asks, holding the man up.

"She al'ays lets the li'le 'uns have 'er food!" the man protests.

"Number." Daichi asks. the man gives it slowly.

"Good." Daichi suddenly punches the man. A single punch and a flash of bronze knuckleduster. It seemed a calculated strike, as it causes the human to throw up. The human does so, retching. Aurian flinches, curling up again. From the look on her face, she remembers that getting sick/getting hit in the gut hurts a lot too. Daichi tosses the man back into the cell, locking it up, getting someone to clean it up. Aurian curls into a ball, hiding her head under her arm, although it doesn't really do too much. The human coughs some more, but no one bothers to try to help him. Daichi grabs a chair, sitting, rubbing his gloved knuckles. Daisuke seems disappointed. Aurian starts trembling, but no noise comes from her.

A female human glances over, and looks like she was going to say something, but doesn't. "..." A small noise of pain comes from the thin elf, and her shirt starts staining.

Daichi growls, standing. "Get a medic!"

"But..."

"NOW!" Daisuke skitters off to get one. Daichi bursts in, kneeling by the elf. she's stiffly trying to stay in that position, biting down on one hand to keep from crying out. Her back is bleeding, although it hadn't been hurt. The humans stay put in their corner, watching Daichi, not the door.

Daichi rips her shirt off. "What the fuck...?" Two pairs of mirrored cuts run through the mass of other scars across her back, both pairs angled in from her shoulders to her spine. It looks like a scar had been split down the middle, by the scaring around the bleeding wounds. Small dark-red-purple burns appear in patterns. Daichi seems panicked, not knowing what to do.

"..It's a fit." the human who had spotted Aurian before says softly. "It goes away, she doesn't remember them, never seems worse for wear after its all done. I hear it's because she's an elf, and that collar prevents her from gathering Mana, so hers goes crazy." the woman doesn't look over as she says this. Aurian's burns seem to be in a mirrored pattern. On the back of her right shoulder was a scar like someone had ripped a nine-footed star-fish out and off of her back, a deep pock mark in the center.

Daichi carefully puts a hand over her back. "And it does this?" the wounds in her back flare with contained swirls of visible Mana. Aurian makes a pained noise around her hand, her eyes squeezed shut. The collar seems to be heating around her neck, and the Mana vanishes again. Daichi's hand was close enough to feel turmoil of Mana, and collect a few small blotchy burns. Which bubbled and melted the leather of his glove. "What the hell...? This is weird..."

"she can't use it. it could go bad." the woman was near the edge of the grouped humans. "she talks some sense sometimes. But not much about Mana anymore." Aurian is trembling, the Mana visible in the gashes swirling again. There is Mana the color of the blotches among the varying normal colors of the Nature-Elemental, Healing, and Light and Dark Mana's. Daichi rocks back on his heels, watching.

The collar heats up again, reddening the skin under it, and the Mana dies down once more. This repeats twice, and then the Mana doesn't come up again. The bleeding doesn't stop, but she doesn't seem to be actively in pain. Or conscious.

Daichi does what he can to stop the bleeding, Daisuke finally returning. "No medics."

"What?!" the human woman returns back to the group in the corner, and Aurian is definitely unconscious, blood trailing from her hand where she'd bitten deep. Daichi bandages her up, dismissing Daisuke. She's very limp. And just about skin and bones. The humans just stay clear of them. Daichi growls, not wanting to become attached. He forces himself to stand and leave. The humans leave her alone, and she still just lies there.


	2. Flashback! Shinies!

Daichi is on guard, sitting in a chair, slumped slightly. Suddenly, a snore comes from under the helm. His keys are dangling from his belt. Like before, the thin elf is curled near the wall and bars, just out of average reach with a whip while a Desian stood an average arm span away from the bars, the human's spread out in the cell but for the area near the elf. she had a different sort of vacant stare, her chest softly moving with slow, level breaths - a open-eyed sleeper. The keys of the slumbering guard were well within reach. Some of the humans watch the keys, but the look in their eyes is more of hopeless want, something they know they will get beaten for attempting to grasp. One human gets an idea, and whispers it to one of the children, who didn't quite understand, but whispers it to the elf. she blinks, slowly, her eyes focusing in on the real world slowly. The human moves back to the huddle as the Elf eyes the keys. Daichi shifts in his slumber, the keys jingling slightly. Aurian slowly gets into a crawl position, and moves closer to the bars, reaching for the keys. Daichi's hand slips from his chest, the thick appendage coming into contact with the thin limb. Within an instant, the guard is awake, pulling the elf into the bars, twisting her arm behind her.

"What..." He whispers menacingly, "...Do you think you're doing?" Aurian blinks, looking sleepily startled.

"...sparkly." she manages to whisper.

Daichi shoves her away, opening the cell. "I'll show ya sparkly!" He launches a punch for the elf's stomach. Obviously not a morning person, a sharp contrast from Daichi's usual laid-back attitude. She doubles over as it connects, crumpling just like that, arms around her stomach, and knees to keep herself in a ball as she tries to hide her face. He rounds on the humans. "Which one of ya scum told her to do it?!"

None of them really react, before one suddenly shoves the child forward. the small girl wails as she stumbles, and falls to the ground, mimicking the elf's pose as she sobs. Daichi blinks, hesitating. Its obvious that, no matter how enraged, he still had SOME morals. "Yeah, right. A kid hatched an escape plan. All by herself? Not fuckin' likely. Step forward and I promise not to make it TOO painful." He tries to ignore the girl at his feet. Aurian's fingers slowly move while the human's remain silent. she wasn't looking at anyone, but she coiled her fingers about the lip of his boot.

"...wanted... sparkly..." she mutters, a little choked. "just.. wanted..sparkly." Daichi growls, rounding on her and kicking at the outstretched arm.

He turns back to the humans. "Someone had better step forward, or I'll start picking people at random." Aurian makes a muffled yelp like noise as her arm twists the way it doesn't want to anymore, and she curls again, hiding her head. After a moment, the other humans push a man out.

Daichi grabs the man by the collar, ramming him into the wall. "You. I warned you the last time." Aurian is trying to get his attention again, looking very frightened even as she crawls forward.

"Wanted.. sparkly." she protests. the man grimaces, but doesn't say anything.

Daichi ignores the elf, landing a knee to the crotch to the man. "What'd I say?"

He makes a high pitched, but weak noise. "L..leave.. the.. elf...alone.." he gasps out, trying to work his hands to grip the collar to pull the bottom of his head off it, get more air.

Daichi grunts. "So. Why didn't ya follow my order?"

"I said nothing to her!" The man says, fighting to keep his head a bit further off the collar.

Suddenly, Daichi's axe is at the man's throat. "The thing about humans... They drop their friends into trouble. Vile, dishonest scum."

"Friends?" The human struggles to give a hysterical laugh. "You lot don't let us have friends." Aurian's still trying to reach Daichi. It seems she's the only one who really cares anything about the cell mates.

"Do you really want to get into an argument about what I say? Remember, I'm holdin' the Axe, smartass."

"Wanted.. sparkly.." Aurian seems to be tearing up now, as she tries to reach Daichi. She seems to have given up on moving much of her. The human grimaces, but shuts up.

Daichi pushes her away with his boot as one would do to an annoying dog pawing at his leg. He then drops the man, tossing a gald piece to the elf. "There. Sparkly." This actually seems to work, as the elf then curls up on her side and holds the shiny. One or two of the humans mutter, but come to the conclusion that having it wouldn't do anything, as there was nothing to do with it in their lot. the man falls, and holds his neck, not moving or looking at anyone else. Daichi exits the cell, cracking his knuckles, sitting in his original place. Slowly the humans move out of their huddle in the corner of the cell, but they still avoid or ignore the elf. now partially included in this was the man. Daichi's head keeps drooping and jerking upwards. Seems the big guy was still sleepy. After a while, the troublemaker man gets re-absorbed into the group of humans, although no talk was formed, and he was actually rather ignored.

Fade out.


	3. Flashback! Drunken Torture!

Daichi grunts, walking into the cell bars. He's obviously drunk from the bottle in his hand. the humans cower back, although some are watching in amazement. the thin elf twitches and covers her head.

"What the hell're you lookin' at?" He slurs, noticing some of the humans staring. they flinch and sort of hide, but some continue staring at the fact he's blatantly wasted. Daichi starts to stumble towards a chair, clanging into the bars a few more times. A human snickers. And, unfortunately, Daichi hears.

He looks back, glaring into the cell. "Who the hell was that?" The humans all freeze. the elf limply rolls over. Daichi manages to successfully unlock the cell door. "It weren't the elf...So it was one of you scum" He snarls. "Fess up, or I'll torture every last one of ya!" they crowd back into the corner, saying nothing. Daichi growls, grabbing the nearest human and punching him in the stomach. "Who was it!" the human chokes and curls, gasping for air. the other humans make various denying mutters, shrinking to the other side. Daichi slams the human into the wall, proceeding to beat the ever living shit out of him. the elf manages to make her way over and grab onto Daichi's leg, although she doesn't do much more than that. Daichi instinctively tries to kick her off, dropping the human. she manages to hold onto his leg for a bit longer than usual, until a blow from his other foot connects soundly enough to make her release him, the human crawling away.

Daichi then picks her up. "Don't." He punches her stomach. "Ever. Touch. Me. Again!" With every word, he punches her, before throwing her to one side. she curls up a bit, gasping for air with tiny pained noises. the humans keep as still as possible behind him. He then rounds back on the humans.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you scum, too!" He grabs the next one. They get the feeling that he's forgotten the reason... the human makes a fearful noise, and the rest of the humans have their idea of the elf being a bit special in the head confirmed as she clings to Daichi's leg... again. Daichi grunts, dropping the human and grabbing the elf like one would a cat. she flails a little bit, before acting like a cat would in that situation - staring blankly at him. Daichi smirks.

"What did I just say?" He asks the elf. She blinks at him, almost visibly scrambling to figure it out.

"no.... grab?" she mumbles.

"Exactly." He drop-kicks her. she whimpers when she hits the ground, curling up again. it seems like her hurts are finally kicking in. Daichi smirks, returning to the humans. they cringe and shuffle sideways away from him. he feels a thump on the back of his knees. Guess who's back. Daichi flails lightly, growling. He attempts to shake the elf free, before trying to pull her off. when her arms are almost pried free, she wraps her legs about his, clinging. the humans take this chance to go to the other corner. Daichi erps, falling back on the elf. She yelps, being more or less squished, and let go. He gets up, trying to drunkenly regain his balance.

"Ya don't fucking..." He kicks her in the face. "Learn!" she whimpers, as the blow breaks her nose and makes blood go every which way, and tries to move back. Daichi kicks her in the stomach. she curls about his foot, making choked gasping noises for air. Daichi makes this worse, seizing her by the throat. she wheezes, still trying to breath but obviously failing. she tries to grab at his arm, and misses a lot. Daichi must be sober enough to realize that she can't die and drops her. she gasps for air tearily, curling into a ball and covering her head with her arms. Daichi looks down, watching the elf, seeing if she makes a move other than gasping. she starts trying to scoot away, but her movements are jerky.

His eyes snap back to the humans, but decide that they aren't worth the stress of attacking, starting to stumble out from the cell. Unfortunatly, she's right between him and the cell door. a tripable surface as she remains curled up. Daichi yelps, tripping over the elf, landing ontop of her with a sickening crack. She gives an almost wail, as the air was knocked out of her and it had been beaten into her at some point that making noise made her noticeable and thus a target for injury. Daichi grunts, getting unsteadily to his feet once more, ignoring the elf as he goes for the door again. The elf whimpers, doing her best not to move, as Daichi closes the door behind him, sitting down heavily in the chair.


	4. Flashback! Crippling shackles!

The elf curled into a ball near a corner by the bars, the rest of the cell-dwellers crowded into the opposite side. Daichi is taking a quick nap by the cell. she's staring at her hands, a crazy little smile on her face as she moves her fingers in little patterns. sparks shoot from her fingers, mostly making her twitch in pain, but then whatever she was doing actually worked, causing the collar to heat up and a lance of lightning to jump from her hands to the sleeping Desian. Daichi yelps, being shocked, jumping from his chair and landing in a heap on the floor. she's seemingly unaware of what she had done, staring at the sparks she was making with childlike fascination. He stands, sparks discharging off his armor and into the ground.

"You..." He growls, wincing. Another spark shoots off toward the ceiling. The humans cower in their corner. Daichi flinches, opening the cell. He grabs the elf, slamming her against the wall. The sparks dissipate in her shock of someone interrupting her little world of pretty sparklies. she makes a slight noise as the air in her rushes out.

"How the hell can you cast?!" He snarls. She babbles weakly about 'not doing it again', 'i'll be good' and variations of 'please don't hurt me'. there were burns on her neck from the collar, but it seemed that the bits of magic she'd been doing weren't high enough to be counted as Tier One of Magic, and thus weren't completely blocked. Not that she was aware enough to tell him that. Daichi drops her to the ground, placing a boot on her head. "You'd better not. I don't care how valuable you are. Zap me again, you're dead. Hear me!" She continues her babble. unfortunately, she's distressed, and distressed mages tend to cause Accidental Magic. she whimpers as the collar heats, but Daichi's boot should also be heating as well.. from a little flame starting to eat at it. Daichi yelps, jumping back, stamping his boot to put the fire out. Other Desians are drawn by the captain's noise. She's curled back up in a ball, trembling as more tiny little flames spring up and vanish. Pebbles form and roll about, little puddles show up randomly and sparks move. the humans are definitely hiding now. Daichi leaves the cell, locking it. "I wanna know how she can cast, and I wanna know now!" One of the mages eyes her.

"They aren't real spells." the Desian says. "They're not even close to the level of a Fire Ball. None of them are even close to being lethal, so maybe the Black Steel doesn't cause it enough pain to stop the spell, or it doesn't block it." the Desian mage shrugs.

"Even if they're not full spells, they fucking hurt! How can we block them?"

"If you see one starting, hurt it." one of the other Desians points out. "Pain can stop casting."

"Or you could get more Black Steel and put them on it. It's getting burnt as is, more might make it stop." the other Desians don't bother with calling the elf she.

"If it burns through the Black Steel..." Daichi mumbles. "Get more. I'll make sure Sparky doesn't cause more damage." The Desian who gets stared at by the others there grumbles, but wanders off as the rest disperse. the elf's not casting things anymore, mostly cause she seems to be exhausted. Daichi paces the cell, limping slightly from the burns on his foot. she blinks a little, then moves back to her spot and curls into a ball again near the bars. the Desian comes back with a pair of shackles of black steel.

"these should be enough. They might be too loose, so." with them are a pair of nails. "Get someone to heal so it doesn't bleed out if you use them." he hands them over then walks off.

"...This is an old human technique..." Daichi mumbles, remembering his history. He then shrugs, grabbing a healer Desian to follow him into the cell. the humans hide in the corner. the healer looks at the elf.

"If you get them in the old scars, you won't damage anything too important. Someone's already done that to it." the healer shrugs. "Let me know." Daichi manages to grab the elf's wrists, taking the hammer and nail. He does one. She screams, trying to thrash free, kicking at him, flailing her other arm at him as blood runs quite freely down her arm. the healer flicks a spell at her, healing just enough. the Elf wails as the black steel heats up and burns the wound. she doesn't stop trying to kick Daichi in the balls though. Daichi, used to this ploy, manages to stay away, doing the other wrist. she screams louder, still kicking at him, but her arms just give up. her hands twitch weakly as she tries to move them. the healer heals her enough not to let her bleed out, but nothing more. "I'm done here." and the healer walks off. Daichi manages to shove the flailing elf away, standing to walk out of the cell. the elf moves suddenly, throwing the chain between her hands out to catch around Daichi's ankle.

Daichi nearly trips. "Wh-What the fuck."

"You bastard.." the elf hisses, even the action tugs on her wrists painfully. "You ... damn .. bastard." her hands are gummed all up with blood, but her eyes are clear and very angry. Daichi stares at her eyes for a minute, a slight hint of fear showing for a second before he raises his foot, stamping down on the shackle. "Bastard!" She screams it, trembling with pain. "Half-human bastard!"

Daichi's eyes flare. "What did you just call me?!" He grabs the elf, throwing her against the wall, starting to walk towards her, picking her up, slamming against the wall. "What. The FUCK. Did you just call me?!"

"Half-human!" she screams it into his face, grinningly insanely. "Half-human, half-human, half-human!" Daichi yells in anger. Seems he has a store of it. He throws the elf to the ground and starts kicking the everliving shit out of her. She continues screaming 'half-human' at him when she's got enough air to do so beyond her yelps of pain. Daichi continues to kick and punch at the elf, eventually throwing her at the group of humans. the humans scatter, heading mostly to the corner to Daichi's right, although a few go to the corner to Daichi's left. for some strange reason, even though her face as was bloody and she was in great pain, she was laughing madly. Daichi pants heavily, blood dripping from his hands and splattered over his uniform. He glares at the elf, he takes a step forward, stepping on his glasses that flew off when he tripped. He barely even notices as he walks towards the elf. a young-ish human darts between them, clearly terrified of Daichi, and terrified of something else as well.

"Don't kill her! You kill her, they'll kill all us!"

Daichi stops, looking down at the human. He growls, lifting the young man up. "You tellin' me what I can and can't do!?"

"No sir, never sir, just don't want to die sir." the elf was shifting again, slowly.

"Well, ya goin' the wrong way about it!" The half-elf turns away from the elf for a second, plunging a knife into the human's gut. he chokes, grabbing onto the blade. Daichi drops the human, smirking. "Human filth..." He spits on the writhing, dying corpse. The chain suddenly drops over his head, the elf on his back as she jerks back on the chain.

"Half-human, half-human." she sing songs it at him, tauntingly. "If they be filth, what be you?" Daichi gacks, suddenly starting to choke. He starts thrashing, ramming himself into the walls to try and rid himself of the elf. she continues to sing song it directly into his ear. "Half-human, half human, if they be filth what be you? Half filth, half shit, half rat?" it comes out gasping as pain kept her breathing awkward his lunging into walls smashed it out of her, but she kept the chain across his neck despite the fact it was tearing at her wrists. Daichi slowly sinks to his knees, gasping for air. for a second the chain loosens, because she wasn't ready for that, allowing him to breath, but then the elf pulls back on hte chain again. Daichi manages to gulp down some air, letting his brain think. He grabs the chain, ducking down, throwing the elf over the top of his head. Again into the humans. the elf screams, her arms bleeding anew, as she hits the mob of humans. Surprisingly, they only scatter enough to let the elf hit the floor. Daichi pants, managing to get his breath back. He stands again. She's laughing again, even as she curls up to press her bleeding arms to her chest.

"please don't kill her!" one of the children says, wailing. Daichi stops, blinking, as though coming to his senses. the rest of the humans babble things like that too, cowering near but not touching the deranged elf. Daichi smirks.

"Humans. Only scared because of what might happen to you..." He grunts. "Fine." He turns and leaves, pulling a fresh pair of glasses out of the desk drawer.

* * *

Now you know why Frozen in Flight says that her characters don't need enemies. They have her.


	5. Flashback! Rodyle's lair

It's an island, in the middle of the ocean, with just the tiniest bit of beach about cone-volcano sort of rock formation and a blue door on one side. Daichi is on a Wyvern. the beast flies over the top of the island, and a dome is visible of some sort of sturdy glass like material. It opens, and the Wyvern descends. It lands, and crouches for Daichi to get off. The wall on one side is full of cave entrances, with other beasts inside, and the other is a bubble of thick something magi-tech showing a control room into a base. Daichi gets off, stretching, cramped after the journey. He looks around, wondering if he should go towards the control room. there's a hatch, because the control room is leveled below where the lairs were. inside is a handful of Desians, working, and one not. Their uniforms, other than the standard brown bits, was green.

Daichi descends into the control room. "Uh... I'm the transfer from Lord Forcystus' ranch."

"Right." the man who was not doing anything turns toward him. "This way." he turned for what looked to be an elevator. Daichi frowns, following, a bit nervous about all this MagiTech. the doors hiss open, and there is indeed... a circular elevator. the Desian stops in the center, and waits. Daichi follows. the doors hiss shut, and the Desian lifts a hand.

"We've got to get you a key for the lifts before we get you a job. No way to get around in here without one." it looks a lot like a Sorcerer's Ring, and it emits a little whine, then the elevator moves down.

Daichi nods. "Looks a lot more complex than the cardkeys at Iselia."

"They are. Helps keep the inferiors in line." the Desian says. "Be careful though, too many mistakes makes the water level rise inside." The elevator stops, and they come into what looks like a supply center.

"Mistakes? At what?"

"Finding the correct turns on the lifts." the Desian opens a door. "Pick one. Any works."

Daichi just scoops up the nearest ring, returning. "Correct turns? So there's a process?" Daichi wonders, aloud and slightly worried.

"Yep. a bit like a maze. Going down is easy." the Desian leads him toward a door. "Careful." is the only thing he says before taking an abrupt right. Daichi sticks close to the other Desian. The edge is about a pace to their left, and glowing blue rails stand in mid air by some sort of Magi-Tech, and a platform that looked like it would maybe hold three people. If they were small. "Stand here, use the ring." the Desian says. He does so, and it whistles. He steps on the platform. "Then follow me, do as I do." Daichi copies the Desian exactly, making mental notes to write down later. They go down several warps, which the Desian calls back that they'd take him back up as well. there was a point where the rail sort of tapered off, and the Desian indicated it as they went past as the "quick way down. not for those with motion sickness." Daichi nods, silent as he remembers this. the Desian gets off at a point, opens an office. Another, one marked out as a mage by his helm, sitting behind a desk. Daichi walks in, standing to near attention until he's aware of his rank.

"From Lord Forcystus's, huh?" the Mage says. "Your papers haven't come in yet. What are you good at?"

"Guarding. Uh, I'm a good brawler and a light mage."

"Light magic? or minor mage?" the Mage asks.

"M-Minor mage, sir."

"I see. Sounds like we'll just put you at that again." the mage pulls out a paper and writes quickly. "I don't know what the inferiors are like up at Iselian, but here... they're a little more docile, with a bit of that franticness that comes with no escape in sight." the mage looks up. "They can't see the sun here."

"So...You want something to intimidate the humans?"

"It works." the mage says, then eyes Daichi from under his helm, and writes some more, before handing this paper over. "Directions to your station, and the barracks. He'll guide you today, but not after that." the mage leans back. "If one crosses you, you can do anything. Break bones, smother. If you fancy one.." he looked disgusted, but shrugged. "No killing, unless the Exsphere is harvestable."

Daichi nods. "Sir..." He mumbles slightly, pocketing the directions.

"Once a week, there's one odd task." the Mage mentions. "You need to make sure the elf actually gets some food. Other days... if she doesn't get there fast enough, her fault. Right now, it's on Tuesdays." the mage then ignored him, dismissing him.

Daichi nods, turning to face the other Desian. "Elf?"

he nods, starting back for the rail lifts. "Only one in the ranch system." the Desian leads the way to the cell block.

Daichi blinks. "The one that escaped from Iselia?"

"the same." the Desian says, nodding at another, and then stopping before a cell. "Not so lively anymore, but." he shrugs. "makes the job easier."

Daichi frowns slightly, his nose wrinkling a bit at the smell. "Ah. I get it." Inside are a crowd of humans, and like at Iselia, the elf was sprawled over on a different corner from them. The collar was back, a thicker band of the dark material, with a very clear lock rather than the clicking mechanism. The humans looked up, then away before they were noticed. Daichi frowns. "I was tasked with guarding this elf before. But my...Collegue let her escape." He wonders if the elf remembers him.

"Then you know she's a mage." the Desian says. he kicked the bars, so that it rang loudly but didn't hurt his foot. the humans cowered, but the elf stirred. "That's what the collar does. Keeps her unable to use any Mana. But all you need to do with her, is once a week drag her out and make sure she eats."

"Yeah. Had to do it at Iselia." He rattles his sword hilt against the bars, smirking at the human's discomfort.

"Responds to noise." the Desian points out. "When it's time to herd them out, clanging a bit makes the elf get up and moving too. If you want to drag it..." the Desian shrugs. "And it's your shift. Only a half, because of a flight, but the paper should have your hours." the Desian nods, and leaves. Daichi smirks, leaning against the bars, watching the humans. they keep huddled back. Daichi seems to be a bit larger than a lot of the Remote Island Desians, likely due to not living under ground. the elf rolls over, blankly staring at whatever was before her face again. she had vivid bruises visible. Daichi glances at the elf, only slightly, concentrating more on the humans. Just waiting. Waiting for one to slip up. They keep hunched for a while, pressing into their part of the cell. there seemed to be a bit more per cell than Iselia, but the cell complex was a tower with an elevator and levels of them. Slowly, very slowly, the humans stop pressing themselves into the corner. they keep hunched up though, staring at the ground. Daichi grunts, looking around the complex, not liking the lack of windows. At least Iselia had a window for fresh air. The entire complex was blue ish, like the water that was occasionally visible through tunnels, and the sort of dark that came from artificial lighting and not enough of it. one human stares at Daichi blankly.

Daichi blinks, catching sight of the human. "What're you lookin' at?" He growls. The humans cringe back, but the staring one seems to be completely out of it. not that this stops them from staring. Daichi smirks, opening the cell door. "Looks like someone needs to be taught not to stare." He states, cracking his knuckles. the humans cringe back, pressing away from the staring one, while the elf curles into a ball as he passes. the human blinks when he's jostled, looking startled when he notices Daichi's in the cell. Daichi grabs the human, lifting them clear off the ground, being about 6 inches taller than the norm.

"Don'cha know it's rude to...Stare?!" The last word is punctured by a powerful blow to the stomach. the human chokes, gasping and retching a bit from the hit. the other humans press away, and find themselves about the elf. they move over her, not caring if their feet found her or the floor as they press to that side. she doesn't make a sound, curled up. "Well?!" Daichi growls impatiently, landing another hit to the stomach. the man chokes, unable to speak due to gasping for air. Daichi lets loose his grip slightly.

"no.. sir.." the human gasps out. "No... one tells... us ignorant... humans... anything... sir." Daichi grunts, throwing the man to the ground, looking disgusted. the man lays there, gasping for breath. Some of the humans in the crowd have shoved the elf further from their corner, so she's kinda lying in Daichi's path out, staring blankly at the ceiling. Daichi snorts, turning to walk out. He stops, his boot just seconds from stepping down on the elf. He blinks, slightly confused. one of the humans behind him jumps onto his back, and another pair join him. Daichi yelps, staggering back, ramming himself into a wall to get rid of the humans. one lets go with a cracking noise, the other two grunting, and another pair jump him. it's mostly children hanging back. Daichi loses his helm and glasses in the process.

"Damn...Fucking rodents!" He yells, grabbing a man and trying to throw him off. the humans are light, the underfed sort, but they're fairly strong. the ones holding on risk their hold to hit at his now unprotected head, although the man he grabbed flew easily. now it's just the children holding back, but keeping silent in a corner. the elf seems oblivious, perhaps asleep. Daichi proceeds to rip humans from him, kicking and stomping on the ones already on the floor. the ones able to move throw themselves back on, but those numbers are dwindling. Daichi keeps working, although he's beginning to tire. He tries not to show it. One of the ones he throws lands next to the elf, and he gets an idea. shoving her, he gets her to her feet, and herds her into Daichi. Daichi stumbles back, nearly falling on the ground.

"Coward..." He growls, aiming to punch the man in the face, aiming past the elf. she's spotted her potential danger, and simply crumples to the ground, curling into a ball again. the human gets socked in the face, and there's a crack from his jaw. Daichi continues his work of thrashing, throwing and crashing into walls. Eventually, there's just the elf and the children in their corner who are still.. moving, without too much damage.

"Ya lucky I ain't allowed to kill." He grabs his helm, leaving the cell. the elf crawls out of the mess of groaning humans, and curls into a ball within reach of the bars.

one of the other Desian guards comes up, and looks Daichi over. "Trouble?"

Daichi makes sure the cell is locked, pulling out a fresh pair of glasses. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"S'why I took so long coming over." the man shrugs. "_you_ weren't making too much noise." he turns to return to his post. Daichi pulls up a chair, sitting down, sighing.

Next Tuesday

the food-carts came out of the elevator, splitting up into one per cell. the Desian pushing the cart that stopped before Daichi's pulls out a bowl and a chunk of the bread, and gives them to him after filling the bowl at least half way. Daichi nods and stands, unlocking the cell. He heads for the elf, aiming to grab her. the rest of the humans crowd away, remembering quite well what had happened when they'd jumped him. some of them eye the door, but the other Desian stands before it. the Elf stared blankly at him while he entered, but when he got closer her expression became one of panic, and she curled into a ball. Daichi manages to grab an arm, starting to drag. she makes a panicked half-screech noise, trying to get her hand under his fingers, and trying to get traction with her bare feet. neither works very well, but she's flailing. Daichi intensifies his grip. She yelps, and grabs for the bars with her other hand, with her legs as they pass them. her collar sparks once or twice, making her give little high pitched noises of pain, as a unconscious spell failed. She yelps, and grabs for the bars with her other hand, with her legs as they pass them. her collar sparks once or twice, making her give little high pitched noises of pain, as a unconscious spell failed. Daichi pulls her into the next unoccupied cell, setting the food down. She continues trying to get away from him, not registering the food. she doesn't seem capable of full movement. she's not screeching, but making more pathetic sort of noises now. She's clearly terrified. Daichi leaves the cell, hoping she calms. she curls into a ball in the corner, hiding her head. the Desian who brought the food glanced in.

"she has to eat it, whether she wants to or not." the Desian says. "Wonder what she's got against tall guys..." he wanders back to his cart.

Daichi sighs. "I was hoping I wasn't gonna have to force her."

"Might just be a bad day." the Desian says. "Sometimes she panics, sometimes she's fine. No one's been taken from the cell for a while." the way he said that one indicated that they likely didn't return after such a removal. She's still curled in a ball in the corner.

"Did it in Iselia, but she normally ate by now."

the Desian shrugs. "She's a crazy elf. but until that Exsphere matures, we're not to let her die. Even if she's staving herself." Daichi nods, re-entering the cell, nudging the elf with the toe of his boot. she curls tighter, making a scared sound. Daichi grabs the elf's hair, managing to pin her arms with a tight bear hug. With his free arm, he starts to force her to eat. she tries to wriggle free, kicking her legs and flailing her head, seemingly trying to head but him. Daichi keeps a hold, forcing the food down. She eventually realizes what's going on, and then his fingers are in danger of being bitten because she's going after the food. Daichi eventually lets her eat by herself, sitting and watching. She's got that messy-neat Eat-it-before-someone-else -does going, where she crammed as much as she could in one mouthful, then picked up any scraps she made, complete with running fingers over her face and licking them clean after. Almost like someone made a cat-dog hybrid.


	6. Flashback! Daichi's Chibi Start!

Daichi is playing about with some mock swords outside of Iselia's schoolhouse. There have been some straw dummies mounted up for the adults to spar with. The 10-year old seems quite good with his sword-work, seeming light on his feet before overstretching some and falling down, flat on his face. Sitting nearby is a small girl of about five or six. She has long, blonde hair and is wearing a smaller version of the Martellian Acolytes robe. She gasps slightly, quickly standing and running to the boy.

"Are you okay?" She asks. The 10 year-old sits up, groaning, rubbing the back of his head.

"Owowow...." He mumbles. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine." The child is wearing standard clothing in shades of brown and black. Black pants, brown shirt and boots. His black hair is quite messy.

"What are you trying to do?" she asks, sitting beside the boy.

"I'm training to become a great hero like my dad!" The half-elf announces, raising the wooden sword.

"Wow! Your dad's a great hero?!" The girl says, clapping her hands together. "What has he done?"

"W-Well...He's not a hero...Yet...But he is the best swordsman in Iselia!"

"Well, I've got a famous relative, too! My big brother is the chosen of rege...Regenerere...Uh..." The young girl trails off.

"Your brother is Henry Brunell?" The boy asks, looking slightly awed. "And it's Regenerashiun..." Daichi still failed to say it correctly. "Do you miss him?"

"Yes...All the time. But I know he's saving the world!" Suddenly, a low growl comes from the boy's stomach. He flushes, embarrassed.

"Eheheh...I should eat lunch..." He says, quickly standing and running into the schoolhouse. He returns with a small box and opens it, taking out a sandwich. He halves it, handing the other to the young girl. "I'm Daichi Misawa."

The girl takes it, smiling. "Phaidra Brunell."

The young girl nibbles on her half of the cheese sandwich. "Your dad...What does he do?"

"He's head of the Iselian Militia!" Daichi says proudly. "He's so brave, chasing off monsters and Desians! He's the best."

"That's great! I'm sure Henry will be happy that your dad keeps the village safe so he has somewhere nice to return to when he's saved the world!" Phaidra says, almost cheering with happiness.

At that point, a shadow covers the two and a man's voice says. "Made a new friend, Daichi?"

The boy turns. "Dad!" He yells, jumping into his dad's arms.

He chuckles, hugging his son. "Be a good boy, Daichi, and don't stay out too late. Your mother worries about you."

"Hey, Alek, hurry up! Don't wanna be late for your shift!" Another man calls. "Be right there!"

Alek calls back, kisssing Daichi lightly. "Eeew. Dad!" He squirms.

Alek lets Daichi go, standing back up. "You two play nice, now." He says, walking off.

"Your dad's big..." Phaidra says, slightly awed.

"Yeah, he is...But it might just be that we're small..."

Daichi sighs, standing back up, watching his dad walk off. He holds his hand out to help Phaidra to her feet. "Well, I gotta get going. Mom doesn't like me out too late. Nice to meet you!"

Phaidra stands, dusting herself off "Bye. See you later!" Daichi waves back, running off home.


End file.
